A spate of cannibal attacks is being put down to a new drug mind-altering called Cloud Nine.

The finding comes two more cannibal attacks were reported in the US, following the police shooting of Rudy Eugene, who growled at officers as he chewed off most of a homeless man’s face.

Eugene is believed to have taken the over-the-counter ecstasy-like drug, which is part of a new line of’ bath salts’.

A naked Eugene tore into the face of 65-year-old Ronald Poppo, who was sleeping in the shade on elevated train tracks.

The second incident echoed the Miami attack. A homeless man known as Brandon De Leon snarled at and threatened to eat two officers.

A third incident took place in Louisiana, where Carl Jacquneaux, 43, bit off a chunk of his victim’s face.

Miami police are now on high alert for homeless men who appear to be acting unusually.

When De Leon, 21, was arrested for disturbing the peace in North Miami beach, police were forced to fit him with a Hannibal Lecter-style mask.

In the police car he slammed his head against the plexiglass divider and shouted at officers, “I’m going to eat you”, NBC Miami reported.

“Brandon growled and opened and closed his jaw, slamming his teeth like an animal would,' the police report said. Jacquneaux, 43, is accused of attacking Todd Credeur at his home in Scott, Louisiana, after becoming upset over a domestic issue.